Strikers ready for season opener

FORT LAUDERDALE — Another morning of training quietly smoothed over to Media Day for the 2013 Fort Lauderdale Strikers soccer club.

With the third season just days away for the Strikers home opener against FC Edmonton at Lockhart Stadium on Saturday, there's an feeling of optimism entering the start of the NASL season.

Strikers midfielder and last year's team leading scorer Mark Anderson said this year's version of the Strikers has the components in place to play for a championship.

"We had a good training session today and have three more days of training and then the party starts," Strikers coach Daryl Shore said. "We like where we are at right now. The guys feel pretty fit and for the most part are pretty healthy. They're excited they don't have to kick each other any more and start kicking some other guys that we aren't familiar with."

A revamped roster has been wrapped around the core returning group of Walter Restrepo, Matt Glaeser, Toni Stahl, Scott Gordon and Pecka, who led the team to a 9-9-10 record and a first round playoff berth.

But that is only a small part of the Strikers new look and long term vision team owner Traffic Sports has for the local soccer club.

"They came to the conclusion that they only way we can have a successful franchise is if we build our own stadium," Strikers president Tom Mulroy said.

Mulory, who has been involved with the South Florida soccer community since he played for the Miami Toros in 1976, joined the Strikers organization only after Traffic's commitment to build a stadium with its own funding.

Mulroy said a stadium is only part of the future success for the Strikers

"It's a tough market, but not a difficult market," Mulroy said. "Our first step is to reach out to the soccer people. If we can 7,000-10,000 then we can go from there. We want to be as professional as the Dolphins, Heat, Marlins and Panthers. That is our overall goal."

NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson was also present at media Day to have a closer look at the Strikers progress

"When I spoke with the coach last week he said he feels pretty good with the direction the team is going," Peterson said. "As an organization it has been focused in the off season is has very committed to building a strong team on the field. This team wants to win. It's not about having a team and having a South Florida team, its about winning a championship."

Still, Peterson feels the Strikers franchise has work to do.

"They still need to develop more fans in selling out games," Peterson said. "The other part of that is really the long term, a home where they are today or be better served with a stadium in another location. They are evaluating every piece of the business and they are committed to it now."

The Strikers are heading in a positive direction. Now they need to produce on the pitch.

"We have a lot of players with experience," said Restrepo, who is coming back from a 2012 season ending knee injury. "We are a more complete team, a more competitive team this year.

"The season will be more competitive and should be more fun for the fans. Every game should be more interesting. Every game matters."

After the Saturday's home game against FC Edmonton, the Strikers play two on the road before returning home against rival Tampa Bay Rowdies on April 27.